Perpetual water scarcity issues in the Colorado River basin provide a bounty of stories for public radio journalist Luke Runyon, who shares insights into his beat coverage practices, in the latest Inside Story Q&A. The greatest challenges, surprises and lessons in reporting these critical stories, lauded in SEJ’s awards program, through the medium of sound.
"Some environmental groups are urging Congress to make changes to the Freedom of Information Act in response to a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that allows the government to withhold certain draft records from public disclosure."
"There is a quickening rhythm of corporations with big carbon footprints pledging action to combat climate change. And their cascade of splashy announcements spans the worlds of retailing, technology and delivery services. Yet even the prodigious voluntary steps by a portion of the corporate world so far lack the speed, scale or scientific know-how needed to move the thermometer of the warming planet in the right direction."
"The federal government does not need to disclose draft documents that informed its conclusions about the harm an EPA rule would pose to vulnerable plants and animals, the Supreme Court ruled today."
"The Interior Department today scrapped its version of the Trump administration's controversial "open science" dictate that critics say unduly constrained research important for environmental policy decisions."
"We tested families in fracking country for harmful chemicals and revealed unexplained exposures, sick children, and a family's "dream life" upended."
Government suppression of science harms not just journalists, but also the public in its ability to get crucial information and trust in science, not to mention government integrity. So now is the time, asserts the new WatchDog opinion column, for news media to engage intensely over government scientific integrity policies in the making, to be sure that agencies like the EPA get it right.
